Mutual Recompense
by Cactus Bob
Summary: Yugi, a young boy with a painful existence. Yami, a parasite disgusted with his own kind. When the two come together by unfortunate circumstances, will they be able to overcome their difference and make a friendship that will save the world?
1. Different Sides of the World

This is the first story I've posted where it's not already finished... This is a rather strange idea I had for a fic, so I decided to write it. I hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

Yami darted through the water, swimming as fast as he could from the realities of his fate. The Counting had just been finished, and he was one of them. It was nearing his seventeenth birthday, and in a few days he would be obligated to choose a human host. For twenty-three years he would wear that form until he would return to his proper habitat to find a mate and have children. 

Yami stopped, resting against the sandy ground beneath him. Something told him that humans didn't deserve this kind of treatment. If someone told him that something was going to crawl inside _him _and take over _his _body… even after everything the history lessons had taught, he couldn't believe that _all_ the people in the human race were evil. How could such a thing be?

Thousands of years ago, the humans had rejected the Karish. They had driven them from their homes in the rivers, lakes, and streams of the world and banished them to the Great Sea. But who could blame them? Karish could have nearly limitless control over human beings—of course they would be afraid of them.

Now that millennia of propaganda had wormed its way into the young Karish minds, turning the public back to the humans' side would be impossible. Yami didn't understand why he had to go through this whole "bonding" process anyway. Why should he spend time in a human body trying to hate more when he could be spending time peacefully at home, raising a family?

"Yami!" Bakura called to him. It wasn't audible, naturally—Karish had no mouths to speak with. All Karish communicated telepathically. "What's wrong with you?" Bakura rebuked. "We're finally up for our turn in the world! You should be happy!"

"How can I be happy when we are ruining innocent lives, Bakura?" Yami retorted. "This whole procedure is pointless, you know that."

Bakura twirled in the water. "Oh, so you're pitying the humans again, are you? When will you realize that they get what they deserve? We go up to the surface to punish them for what they did to us."

"If that's so, then why not possess every human and never let them go?" Yami asked. "Your logic is flawed, Bakura. All Karish law is flawed!"

"We need to mate, Yami. Maybe one day we'll have enough numbers to posses all the humans on all of Dry Land, but for now we have to bide our time," Bakura answered, spewing the repetitive teachings of the elders word for word. "A few generations from now, we will have enough of our kind to rule the earth that is rightfully ours!"

"Why can't you be happy where you are, Bakura?" Yami demanded. "The Great Sea is our home. Dry Land doesn't belong to us."

"We used to live up there, and we'll do so again…" Bakura mused. "One day we'll fill the rivers and the streams and the lakes that we've heard about. One day there will be so many of use that they can't drive us out again."

Yami did an angry loop-the-loop. "This is madness, admit it. I just want to stay in the water where I belong and live in peace."

"That's never going to happen," Bakura stated. "You have to go to Dry Land before you turn eighteen, Yami. Anyone who decides not to is executed."

Yami remembered. Yami remembered all too well. His father was the one who had instilled his values in him, and now he was gone because of that. Instead of going to Dry Land, he had given birth to a son and taught him everything he believed. Then he was convicted of heresy and doomed to the Shore.

Karish could only stay out of a wet or moist climate so long before they suffocated. Humans provided enough water to live comfortably in, but if a Karish was doomed to lie on the hot sands of the Shore… it would only be a day or so before the Karish ran out of water in their pores and died.

"If I must do it, I will, Bakura," Yami said finally. "But don't expect me to be as happy as you are."

* * *

Yugi got his backpack and left his last period at a snail's pace. He knew what was waiting for him as soon as he left those doors. He didn't want to have to face it again. Day after day he went out there and was attacked by those morons. Then he picked what was left of himself off the ground and walked home, avoiding his grandfather's gaze before he went into the bathroom to clean his wounds. 

"Yugi," the history teacher, Miki, said, "are you alright? Every day you leave the class as slowly as humanly possible. Most kids are jumping out of the windows in order to get home as soon as they can."

"I'm just… not in the mood to rush much, Miki-sensei," Yugi answered. "I don't have anywhere that I really want to be."

"Troubles at home?" Miki asked. He had seen the problem too many times in his decades as a high-school teacher not to recognize that something was wrong.

Yugi shook his head. "Home's not the problem, Sensei." _It's the road towards home._

"Well, if you're certain. I'll see you on Monday with your homework, Mutou-san?"

"Yes, Miki-sensei. I'll have it all finished." Yugi answered, and left the classroom at last. He was very careful to complete all his homework and study and everything. The last thing he need was Joey, Tristan, _and_ his grandpa picking on him at the same time. The elder Mutou did not tolerate laziness.

"Well, look who's late again," Tristan observed, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "For a moment, we thought you weren't going to show. We might have had to come and get you."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Somethin' coulda been _wrong_." They grinned, baring their teeth in a way that way more predatory than friendly.

Yugi slid his backpack off his shoulders and closed his eyes. Something hard collided with him cheekbone and sent him to the hard pavement. "What's the matter, squirt? Are we not doing a good enough job for ya?" Tristan demanded. "Are we making you bored?"

Yugi remained silent. Joey kicked him in the stomach. "Answer us!"

Yugi coughed, holding his abdomen as shooting pains went through it. "N-no… please," he pleaded.

"Good, he's begging again," Tristan said, satisfied. "I thought we were going too easy on him."

After another fifteen minutes of agony, Tristan and Joey blithely walked off and left Yugi on the ground. Shaking with pain, Yugi lifted himself from the ground and got his backpack. Another day in his horrible life. He got himself home and walked into his house next to the Game Shop, trudging up the stairs and into the bathroom.

He got some cotton balls and an antiseptic and lifted up his shirt. A few tears had been made in his skin from where Joey and Tristan had kicked him. He cleaned them off, one by one, wincing as the painful tingling bit into him. Then he took care of the cuts on his cheeks and lip. Joey and Tristan were careful to only hit him on the face on Fridays. That way the bruises would fade well enough before school started again on Monday.

Yugi walked into his room and sat down on his bed. He wanted to cry. Everything seemed so hopeless. He wanted something to change, anything. He couldn't live that way for the rest of his life.


	2. Alike in Mind

Today was the day that Yami would have to start trying to take a human form for himself. The one place to do that was the Shallows, up on the beach. A Karish would lie in wait until a human came up near the water, and then… Yami shuddered. It seemed horrible to do that to another creature.

As he swam up to the Shallows, Yami began to wonder why Karish were created the way that they were. _Why were we given so much power over human lives? What were we meant to do so that we must have this atrocious ability?_

Yami's tail twitched as he waited for what seemed like hours. But the tides had only changed a bit, so it couldn't have been that long. Maybe he was having second thoughts about this whole experience, but what was the alternative? Dying on the Shore as all the water inside you floated away. Yami couldn't imagine not being completely saturated with water, much less it coming out of your pores into the Air until you didn't have any left.

* * *

Yugi strolled down the shore of the beach, gazing out at the calm ocean. It always soothed him to come here. He had already finished his homework the night before; anything to take his mind off of the pain in his gut. The bruises were starting to form again, coloring his face a dark shade of blue-green. It was almost sickening.

Something in the water caught his eyes. Yugi walked toward the water, gazing down into the shallow, clear water next to a rock. It looked like a shining, silvery-white fish of some sort. Something about it was odd, though… it appeared to have delicate tendrils extending from its back. Yugi had never seen a fish like that before. It must have been pretty rare.

_I wish I could catch it, _Yugi thought idly. _I'd have something for the science fair._

It was as if the white fish sensed his thoughts, because it started to move. Yugi frowned and hoped that it wouldn't go. Suddenly, the fish sprung out of the water, and Yugi gasped as the thing headed straight for him.

* * *

Yami shakily established control over the boy's nervous system and experimentally moved a few of his fingers. From what he had learned, this human was male and was just an adolescent. They had a lot in common.

Yami contracted his abdominal muscles and made to sit up, but he cried out with his new human lungs as a sharp pain ran through his body. Yami touched a hand to his lips, surprised. He had opened this hole in his face and let actual Air come out of it. It had made a sound.

He looked down at this new body spread out before him. It was so strange… everything was different. He could actually see on Dry Land now. One time, Yami had tried to jump above the water and look into a human boat to see the people inside. It had been so blurry that he could barely see the boat's wall beside him.

Also, he had these strange protuberances… what humans called legs and arms, with even more smaller protuberances on the ends of them. A strange sensation tingled the inside of that lump on his face when he breathed in Air through it. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before.

_The human was standing, _Yami thought. Or was the word "spanding"? He couldn't really remember. _But why does it hurt when I try to stand? Is it like that all the time? _He was beginning to wonder why any Karish would want to do this when he was interrupted by a second voice in his head.

"_Please…" _it begged. _"Let me go! I don't want to be here! Let me go!"_

Yami gasped in surprise. That was the voice of the human whose body he was wearing right now… What was he supposed to do? The elders had never told him anything about this. The boy continued to scream in his mind, and Yami would have gone insane if he didn't answer.

"_I… I didn't mean to hurt you," _Yami said uncertainly. _"Human, I didn't have any choice in this." _He was lying. He did have a choice. He could have chosen death instead.

The boy stopped his panicked shrieking. _"Who…what are you? What do you want with me?"_

Yami sighed. _"You don't know about my kind anymore, do you? Humans don't deserve to be punished for what they don't ever remember…"_

"_What are you talking about? Answer me!" _the boy demanded. He was getting very angry now. Yami couldn't blame him. If he was in the boy's position, he would be angry too. He decided to explain everything. If he was going to be sharing this human's body for the next twenty-three years, he wouldn't be able to ignore all of his questions. He didn't even know how he was going to put up with another person's constant presence for all of that time.

"_Human, my name is Yami," _he said. _"I am one of a race of beings called the 'Karish'. Have you heard of us before?" _Yami tried to be as calming and considerate as he could. He didn't want to upset or offend his host.

"_N-no…" _the boy replied quietly.

"_We live in the Great Sea. On the seventeenth anniversary of our birth, we are obligated by law to take a human host until we are forty years of age."_

"_The Great Sea… the Pacific?" _the boy asked. Yami was confused. What was the Pacific?

"_I… I don't know, Human. But I never wanted to do this. If I didn't, I would have been executed."_

The human was silent for a few moments. He seemed to understand Yami's predicament. _"Why do the… Karish have a law like that?"_

Yami grimaced. The boy was going to hear it from the one person who probably hated the law most. It was hurting innocent people every day: the humans, his father… _"Your kind may not remember, but thousands of years ago we lived on Dry Land with you. We lived in your rivers and streams. But when you found out what we could do, you drove us into the Great Sea. My people say that this is a sort of… vengeance."_

The boy began to sob. _"I didn't do anything to you…"_

"_I know, Human. I've tried to convince my kind of that, but they won't believe me." _Yami's heart was filled with sorrow, and he felt his eyes began to sting. His throat closed off so that breathing was difficult and water came out of his eyes. _"Human, I cannot live in this world pretending to be you. We are so different in form, but we are alike in mind. I won't steal your life and body from you, but you must do something for me in return."_

"… _What is it?" _the boy asked.

"_Firstly, you must allow me to stay in your body. I will be quiet and I won't interfere, but I cannot go back to my home yet. Secondly, you must promise not to drink any 'alcohol' while we share this form. I reside in your stomach, and alcohol is poison to me." _Yami realized the intense risks he was taking by doing this, but his conscience would have him do nothing else. _"Thirdly, if humans have names I would like to know yours."_

Yugi weighed his options carefully. Right now he was trapped in a limbo inside his mind, listening to this alien voice speaking to him from inside his own body. It was asking favors of him, giving his body back to him, even going so far as to tell Yugi how to kill him. It would be so simple to do it, too… but after everything this poor creature had gone through, how could he murder him? He would be saving Yami's life in exchange for a promise of sobriety. How hard could it be?

"_My name is Yugi," _Yugi answered finally. _"And yes, I will share my body with you. Just… let me have it back now, please?" _he added frantically. Being disconnected from his physical form was a disconcerting experience.

In a few moments he felt everything as clear as day. From his bruises to the tips of his toes, he was back in his body. Yugi sat up and clenched his hands experimentally.

Suddenly, he felt a twinge of curiosity from his new body roommate, as if it had opened his mouth to speak and then stopped suddenly. _"What?" _Yugi asked.

Yami seemed embarrassed. _"When I tried to sit up, it hurt,"_ he admitted. _"Did I do it wrong, or is it always like that?"_

Yugi almost laughed. He never really realized how foreign his body must have felt to this fish-like creature sitting in his stomach. _"It's been like that a lot recently. I don't think you did it wrong; don't feel bad."_

Yami seemed contented with this answer, and retreated back into himself. Maybe this experience with Yami wouldn't be so bad. For once, Yugi had a friend who wouldn't leave him, and that was comforting, in a way. They could get to be really close.


	3. Welcome to My World

I just realized that in my haste to post this fic I forgot to do the disclaimer! So here it is:

Yu-Gi-Oh (c) Kazuki Takahashi  
This story (c) Me

* * *

Yami had been completely silent the rest of the day, just like he had promised. Yugi had gone to bed and woken up the next morning without hearing a peep. He was about to get up and get something to eat, when something struck him. _"Yami,"_ he said. Yugi felt a strange sensation in his abdomen, as if Yami had jumped with surprise.

"_Yugi?" _Yami asked. _"Is… is something wrong? I—"_

"_No, nothing's wrong. But I wanted to ask you something," _Yugi admitted.

Yami hesitated for a bit. _"Go right ahead."_

"_You're in my stomach, right?"_

"_That is correct."_

"_Well, what will happen to you if I eat? I mean, you might not now this, but that's where the food goes after it goes into my mouth."_

"_What's… 'eating'?" _Yami asked curiously. _"Is it like drinking? I've heard of that."_

Yugi smiled a bit. This Karish was so naïve to the things of the world. It was kind of cute. _"It's a bit like drinking. But I can't just drink, I have to eat too. Food is more solid than anything that I'm going to drink, though. It could hurt you."_

Yami thought it over. _"No one who's come before me has mentioned anything about this… but if humans need to eat to survive, then you'd have to do it or we'd both die. If something's wrong, then… I'll let you know. Is that alright?" _

"_Yes, that's fine. You don't have to be completely silent, you know. You can ask me about something if you want to know."_

"_Really?" _Yami asked. He sounded excited. _"I've always wanted to know more about the human world, but I never wanted to impose upon anyone to find out…"_

Yugi laughed out loud. _"That would have been a bit difficult to avoid."_

Yami was quiet for about two seconds, and then he came with a bunch of questions. _"Yugi, how do you stand?"_

"_What?" _Yugi asked incredulously. _"Oh, that's right… you've never done it."_

"_And what exactly do you eat, and how do you do it? Why do you make those strange noises when you sleep? How do you talk with your mouth? How do humans mate?"_

Yugi blushed a violent crimson at the last question. _"Let's… start with the first question, alright?" _Yugi sat up and put his feet on the floor. _"First you have to put these things on the ends of your legs onto the ground." _Yami was following his every word with undivided attention. _"Then you have to push yourself onto your legs and balance there." _ThenYugi demonstrated.

"_That's amazing…" _Yami observed. _"I wish I could do that…" _He realized his error too late. _"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"_

"_Do you want to try?"_ Yugi offered. _"I mean, what if we meet one of your friends who's taken over another human? You'll have to be in control or they'll be suspicious. And you can't do that if you don't know how to stand, eat, or talk."_

"… _Alright," _Yami said finally. _"Can you sit back down first?"_

Yugi sat onto the bed and relinquished control of his body to Yami. The Karish was tense and Yugi left his form he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. _"Just relax," _Yugi coached. _"Don't try to stand yet; just experiment with the limbs at first."_

Yami moved his arms to his side and swung his legs back and forth. After a few moments, Yami pressed his feet against the ground. _"I think I am ready to start, Yugi."_

"_Alright, put your arm on the nightstand for support." _Yami placed his hand lightly on the stand beside him, hoping that it was the correct object. "_Slide forward until you think you're about to fall, and then push up with your legs and arm."_

Sliding? Falling? Yami decided that if he was going to make a fool of himself, he should try to get it over with. He leaned forward and pushed up, and suddenly he found himself looking balanced precariously on his two stick-like legs. He swayed and grabbed tightly onto the nightstand to keep himself from hitting the floor. Maybe that was what falling was.

In his mind, Yami heard the sound of something hitting something else and a shrill squeak.(1) _"Great job! You're standing!"_ Yami smiled instinctively, and then he realized how odd it was.

"_What did I just do with my mouth?" _Yami asked.

Yugi thought about it for a moment. _"Well, I think you were 'smiling'. It's something your mouth does when you're happy."_

Yami let Yugi take back over and merely observed as Yugi brushed his hair and teeth and poured himself some cereal. Yugi's grandpa walked into the kitchen. "Hello, Yugi. How did you sleep?"

"Good," Yugi answered. "I think I snored," he added, remembered what Yami had said about the sounds he made while he slept. He didn't want Grandpa to know about Yami just yet. He wouldn't understand. Yugi himself didn't understand completely.

"It's Sunday, so I'm taking the day off," Grandpa said. "If you've finished all your homework, you should do the same. You work too hard for your age, Yugi."

Yugi blushed. "I just want to make you proud, Grandpa."

"You do make me proud, Yugi," Grandpa said, putting his hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Your parents, rest their souls, would be proud of you too."

Yugi smiled and Grandpa went back into his room. Yami nudged a bit on Yugi's mind. _"My parents are dead too, Yugi. My mother died about seven years ago, but my father died when I was just five years old. He refused to take a human body and…" _Yami stopped.

Yugi did a quick calculation. _"You said that Karish take human bodies when they're seventeen?" _he asked. _"He would have only been twelve years old when you were born!"_

"_Yes, I know. It's unusual for a Karish to procreate so early in life, but it's possible. Our bodies develop differently than yours."_

"… _How long do Karish live?"_

"_Maybe ninety or a hundred years. Do humans live longer?"_

"_Eighty to ninety years on average," _Yugi answered. _"Not much longer. Usually humans give birth in their twenties and thirties."_

Yami paused for a bit, looking through Yugi's eyes. _"That substance in the bowl… that is food?"_

"_Yes," _Yugi said, stirring his cereal around a bit. _"Are you ready?"_

"_As much as I'll ever be," _Yami said, and Yugi felt him brace himself. Yugi put the cereal into his mouth, chewed as much as possible, and then swallowed. They waited for a moment while the food traveled down Yugi's esophagus. _"This is… this is wonderful!" _he exclaimed loudly. The noise echoed through Yugi's head, giving him a throbbing pain in his forehead._ "It feels like I'm in the hot jets of the Great Sea! There is more of that, isn't there?"_

Yugi grinned and continued to eat. _"Try not to talk that loudly, okay? It makes my head hurt."_

"_I'm sorry," _Yami apologized. _"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."_

"_It's no big deal, really. You've been a lot nicer to me than most humans," _Yugi admitted. _"I like talking with you."_

Yami almost shimmied in delight. He was speaking to a human, and they were getting along! _"I like talking with you too, Yugi. Maybe it's a part of my upbringing, but I always expected humans to be… different."_

"_Are you saying that we're not different?"_

"_In body, yes, of course we are. But we don't think very differently, like I told you earlier. I didn't know what humans were like, but I thought you would be angrier with me."_

"_I'm not angry, Yami. I understand that you were in a difficult position back in your world. But I was too. I don't have many friends… actually, I don't have any friends at all. I wanted someone who wouldn't judge me, who would relate with me… and then I found you. We've really helped each other, and I hope that we can be friends."_

Yami was shocked. Friends with a human? It had been his dream ever since he was a little child, and it was finally coming true. Now he'd been able to learn everything about human culture. _"I will play my part, Yugi."_

* * *

It was Monday morning and Yugi was on his way to school. Yami had spent a good deal of time asking questions and experimenting with Yugi's body. He had learned how to walk and speak, and he had learned all about the educational system and how much most people hated it. Yugi had even tried to explain the sense of smell to Yami, but he couldn't really understand.

Yugi had skipped from period to period, spending most of his time and energy explaining the subjects to Yami. They didn't have algebra and biology in the Great Sea. Yami always asked the purpose of learning the information, and Yugi didn't have a good explanation at first. But at last Yugi had concluded that the government wanted everyone to have a good base of information, so that they'd be a little prepared for any field they wanted to excel in.

They entire concept seemed sketchy to Yami, since the only professions the Karish had were elders (history teachers), administrators (who kept track of the Karish due to travel to Dry Land), and food gatherers. They didn't have very advanced civilization, which was easy to understand because they didn't have opposable thumbs.

Now it was time to leave for home. Yugi felt a twinge of extra fear. Joey and Tristan always kicked him in the stomach—what if they hurt Yami in some way? He had to find some way of getting out of it, for Yami's sake… but how?

If he tried to go home, then Joey and Tristan would just follow him and pull him out of his bed in the middle of the night. He wasn't allowed to just stay in the school forever. The only option left was to stand up to them.

Shaking, Yugi grabbed his backpack and walked out the front door. He had to be strong now. "Back for more, are ya?" Joey asked. He was resting against the school building, looking at Yugi with a superior smirk. "Ya just can't get enough."

"Stop it," Yugi commanded. "Just stop it right now! Everything you're doing is making you look stupid and weak!"

"Weak? You think we're the ones who are weak?" Tristan asked incredulously. "We've beaten you up every day since you came to this high school."

"People… who have to resort to violence to work out their issues have no self-discipline!" Yugi declared. "I dare you to try and act like normal people for once… then you'd realize how hard it is!"

"You think you're stronger than us because you grin and bear it every day?" Tristan said. "You're… you're crazy, squirt."

But Joey and Tristan walked off, apparently uninterested in their punching bag now that it had grown a spine. Yugi released a breath he was holding and crouched low to the ground, holding his head. He had finally done it. Thanks to Yami he had gotten the courage to stand up to his enemies and break free. Now he didn't have to be afraid anymore.

* * *

(1) In case no one got that, Yugi was clapping and whistling.


	4. To Gain and Lose a Friend

"_Yugi," _Yami said quietly as Yugi skipped towards his home. _"What happened with those two male humans back there?"_

Yugi grinned. He felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. _"Do you remember when you tried to sit up but your stomach hurt? Well, those two have been hurting me for a long time, and that's what caused the pain. But I finally had the courage to stand up to them today. I don't have to worry about them anymore."_

Yami was perplexed. The humans hurt each other? Didn't that defeat the point of driving out the Karish in the first place? If a human could have that much control over another human, then they were back at square one. _Maybe they'll drive out some of their own kind as well, _Yami mused, choosing to keep his thoughts to himself for the moment. The only thing that really mattered was that Yugi was happy.

"Yami!" someone yelled from across the street. Yugi turned around. It was a boy with white hair and pale skin.

"Ryou…?" Yugi said quietly. "How can he know about—"

"_Yugi, switch places with me, quickly! There is only one other person who would seek me out this way. I need to convince him that I'm the one in control," _Yami explained quickly.

Yugi did as he was told and switched places with Yami. Bakura, still trying to get a hold of his human body, stumbled a bit as he walked up to Yami. "Amazing, isn't it? It took me a while to understand how to speak, but I have a good hold on it now," Bakura said.

"How did you know it was me, Bakura?" Yami asked. Thanks to Yugi's advice he was much more comfortable in his form than his former friend. "I wouldn't have recognized you."

Bakura leaned against a wall, tired of trying to constantly keep his balance. "I saw you during your first bonding. I found another human about a day later, and it's taken me a while to get control of it."

_It's a he, you imbecile, _Yami thought bitterly.

"I've found learning to walk particularly difficult, haven't you? You seem to be doing pretty well, though. How have you fared with the voices?" Bakura asked. He must have been referred to his host, whoever the boy was.

"They bothered me at first, but I've learned to… block them out," Yami lied. Truth was, he didn't know if he could block voices out or not, but if he couldn't it would certainly make Bakura feel inferior.

Instead, Bakura scoffed. "I should have known they would have bothered you. The sounds of their despair… it's thrilling to me. They've gotten what they've deserved." Bakura held his stomach. "But perhaps this body is rejecting me. I feel a pain in the human's stomach that grows with time."

"_That's hunger," _Yugi explained. _"Unless he wants Ryou and him to die, he should eat something."_ Yugi's voice sounded bitter and angry. He had known this human… and now he was watching one of Yami's own kind wave him about like a marionette.

"You should eat, Bakura," Yami said. "Humans need to. You have to find food, chew, and swallow. It's their way of getting nutrients."

Bakura seemed dismayed. "They don't live off of water? Odd… it's the only thing I've been drinking—through this mouth, no less. I don't know exactly what fluids contain alcohol, so I'll wait to experiment until I've learned more."

"Where are you staying, Bakura?" Yami asked suddenly. He was staying with Yugi and his grandfather, but Bakura wouldn't have been able to pass as Ryou under any circumstances.

Bakura casually regarded his hand. "I killed the boy's family with something sharp. All you have to do is slip it into their heads and this red essence comes out… I think it's what keeps them alive."

"_Ryou's family… his mother, his father, and his sister! They're all dead!?" _Yugi choked. Yami wanted to get out of that conversation as quickly as he could. Yugi was seeing the worst side of the Karish… what would he think of Yami after he knew what he came from?

"I must go, Bakura, but I will see you around," Yami said, waving goodbye quickly and walking back to Yugi's house. Yugi was quiet for the rest of the journey, secluded in his mind. Yami's worries began to increase. They had just become friends, and now Bakura had to come and ruin everything! What if Yugi stopped trusting him? What if he drank one of those alcoholic beverages that Yami knew nothing about?

The Karish guided Yugi's body into his bedroom and sat down. _"Yugi, I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."_

"_He killed them… every single one," _Yugi whispered. _"Even if Ryou happened to get his body back, he wouldn't want to! Everyone he loved is gone!"_

"_I could never do that to you, Yugi…" _Yami replied quietly. _"I know that Ryou didn't do anything do deserve this."_

"_He knew you…" _Yugi remembered. _"You were friends with him?" _Yugi was accusing him. The truth was that Yami didn't have very good taste in company. He and Bakura had met when they were just yearlings, and they had remained together ever since. When their views on humanity grew farther and farther apart, Yami had separated himself from Bakura, but he had never declared it to his face. That was his fault.

"_We were friends, some time ago. I've spent years trying to convince him that the elders are wrong and that we can't judge a race based on a single event, but Bakura… he's been raised as a true Karish for too long. He couldn't understand," _Yami explained.

"_Why do you hate us so much?" _Yugi asked.

The question hurt Yami's heart. Yugi had lost faith in him. _"I don't hate you, Yugi. I told you that my people were irrational and that I've always disagreed with them. My only hope is that we can still be friends."_

"_So that you can use my body to hide?" _Yugi asked angrily. _"You don't want to face the true consequences of what you believe, so you pretend to be the best of both worlds! To me you say that you respect humans, but to the rest of your people you're just another Karish who's taken a human form! If you really believe what you say you do, then why didn't you just die to prove your point?"_

Yami was silent. His father had made that sacrifice. But what good had it really accomplished? He had come and gone and no one cared. Nothing had changed except for Yami himself. Yugi went on, _"How am I supposed to trust you? At any moment you could take over my body and do whatever you want with me, and I wouldn't be able to do anything! You could be pretending to be nice to me so that you'll learn enough to fit in in this world, and then you'll take back what you took in the first place!"_

"_Yugi…" _Yami said quietly. Maybe the elders were right after all. Yugi was thinking the exact same thing as the humans of old. Yugi could never trust him when he had so much power. _"I know that I don't deserve your confidence in me. I know the things my people have done to yours. So I'll change our deal. Go back to the Shore, and I will return to my home. You can go back to your normal life, and I will face up to what I believe in. We won't have to stay together anymore."_

Yugi bit his lip. He'd be sentencing this creature to death… but Yami could just as easily use him to kill scores of humans! It would be a fare trade, wouldn't it? Yugi took his body back and walked down to the beach. A number of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he didn't share any of them with Yami. He felt so guilty all of a sudden.

Bakura was the one who was killing humans right and left, not Yami. And why was he judging Yami just because of his old companion? There were plenty of humans who killed other humans, but that didn't mean that they were all evil.

Yugi found himself at the beach, staring out at the waves. Yami tugged lightly on Yugi's consciousness. _"I'll have to take over to release myself, Yugi."_

Yugi couldn't let go just yet. If Yami left, then he would never see him again. He would be alone and friendless again. He couldn't go back to the life he lived before… he just couldn't! He finally had someone to connect to. Even after finding out everything that Yami was capable of, he still needed someone to put his faith into.

"_Yami, I don't want you to leave," _Yugi admitted. _"I'm sorry I said the things that I did, but I was just scared. I've never met anything like you before… and after meeting Bakura, I thought you were the same way. But I realized that I'm just doing the same thing that your people are doing. Prejudice tears people apart and it ruins innocent lives, and I don't want to do something like that."_

"_You were right, Yugi. I shouldn't stay in your body because I'm afraid. I deserve to face the penalty for my actions."_

"_But your actions aren't wrong!" _Yugi declared. _"You're trying not to hate anyone or hurt anyone, and there shouldn't be a law against that! So I'm going to grant you what we humans call 'asylum'. That means I'll keep you safe."_

"… _You would do that for me, even after everything?" _Yami asked softly.

Yugi nodded resolutely. _"Yes, I would."_

"_Thank you, Yugi," _Yami said, relieved that he wouldn't have to go to a long painful death. _"I owe you a lot of recompense."_

"_I do too, Yami. I do too."_


	5. Allies and Enemies

Yugi walked into school, his heart lighter now that he didn't have to worry about the devilish duo—Joey and Tristan—beating him into a bloody pulp at the end of the day. It almost made up for the fact that, aside from the parasitic fish in his abdomen, he didn't have any friends at school.

Yugi was listening to the math teacher explain about matrices when something hit the back of his head. He quickly ducked down and opened up ball of paper, which had apparently been the missile. It read:

_I know you think we suck, but it was totally cool what you did earlier. We didn't think you had the guts. If you want to hang out later, we'd be game._

Yugi, perplexed, turned around to see who had thrown it. Much to his surprise, Joey smiled at him and Tristan gave him a brief thumbs-up. The people who had beaten him up wanted to be friends just because he had stood up to them?

"_Some people can't be friends with others until they can respect them," _Yami noted. _"It seems that Joey and Tristan approve of your earlier actions, and were only beating you up because you took it willingly."_

"_Still, it's surprising," _Yugi replied. _"How am I supposed to know if we even have anything in common? They used to assault me!"_

"_The only way to find out is to talk to them, aibou," _said Yami. He had taken to calling Yugi that over the last few days. So Yami considered them partners… equals in the same body. It was comforting to know that the Karish didn't think of himself as superior or inferior. What kind of relationship would that be to have with a friend?

Math class ended soon and Yugi walked off to lunch. He was hungry, and Yami was looking forward to eating. He even enjoyed school food. Yugi didn't feel the same way—the hamburgers were the only thing in the entire cafeteria that he could stomach, and he ate one nearly every day.

Yugi sat down at an empty table, eating by himself, as usual. But suddenly, another person sat down next to him. Yugi stared. It was the athletic, attractive brunette that sat at the table near the window with her friends. She was a dancer, and she was beautiful. Yugi had always had a small—okay, large—crush on her, and now that she was sitting next to him he could barely believe his eyes.

"_Is this a female, Yugi?" _Yami asked curiously. He had been told to recognize them by the expansion of the chest. _"Your body temperature rose when you saw her. Is she your mate?"_

Yugi blushed violently, and in the few moments that it took to finish the conversation Tea must have been somewhat confused. _"She's not my mate!" _he yelled back.

Tea took a bite of her salad. "Is everything alright? You look kind of flushed."

"Ev-everything's fine," Yugi replied. "Um… this might sound a little weird, but… why are you here?"

Tea laughed. "Straight to the point, got it. Well, I just wanted to ask you about the math earlier."

"The math? What about it?" Yugi asked. This was extremely odd—Tea was asking him about school? He was under the impression that she didn't really care about anything but her dancing. Her focus was inspiring, but it didn't do very well for her grades.

"Okay, well, my A's have turned to B's… and my B's to C's… and I know that you get these awesome test scores, so I wanted to know if you could… help me out," Tea said. "Besides, what you did about Joey and Tristan was really brave. I've never given you that much of a chance. I'm thinking that we could be friends."

"You and me… friends?" Yugi asked incredulously. "Like, with each other?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Tea said, a bit agitated. "What, do you think that since you have better grades you're better than me?"

"No, of course not!" Yugi said hastily. "I just thought… that you were better than me."

"Let's go with… equal, 'kay? I'll come over at five, if that's alright. You live in the Kame Game Shop, right?" Tea smiled. "Living in a game shop. That's kind of cool."

"I started making chili this morning, and we usually eat at five. You could join us, if you want. But I think I should warn you… you shouldn't talk to anyone up close afterward," Yugi offered, laughing.

"Chili sounds awesome. I didn't know you could cook." Tea finished eating and stood up. "It was nice finally meeting you, Yugi. It is Yugi, right?"

Yugi nodded, and Tea walked away. Then two other people walked up to him. "Dude, you just scored a dancer!" Joey exclaimed, patting Yugi on the back.

Tristan attacked some spaghetti. "I can't believe that she just walked up to you. What did you do?"

"I… I studied math," Yugi replied, disoriented.

Joey looked like he was thinking. The expression seemed foreign on him. "Maybe I should study math."

Tristan scoffed. "Like you could, man. You suck at logical thought."

Joey growled and nearly pounced on Tristan. "Like you're one ta talk! I don't see you doing much betta than me!

Yugi chuckled nervously. Those two seemed to have a strange, almost violent relationship toward each other. Maybe it was their way of expressing affection, but Yugi wondered if they were just wild at heart. Yugi could tell that Yami was studying Joey and Tristan earnestly—not only did he want to know more about human psychology, but he had become extremely protective of Yugi lately. He seemed to think that it was his personal duty to keep Yugi from harm.

Tristan pushed Joey off of him and casually kept eating. "So, Yugi," he said with his mouth full, "what do you think about our offer? I know we haven't been exactly been kind to you, but I figured that it's water under the bridge now."

"Um… it doesn't sound too bad…" Yugi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I have plans with Tea tonight, but maybe we could hang out tomorrow. I live in a game shop—we could play Duel Monsters."

"Duel Monsters?" Joey asked. "It that that one thing wit' da cards that I see on da channel with poker?"

"It's really fun when you learn how. If you want, I could teach you."

"I don't know, man… from what I've seen, it's a little over Joey's head," Tristan teased.

Yugi walked home from school, wondering if his chili had turned out alright. It was one of the few things that his mother had taught him to cook before she passed on. It took many hours to get right and usually left you with breath that would slay a dragon, but it tasted _so_ good when it was made correctly.

Yugi had told Yami all about it, and they were both looking forward to it. He was even willing to let Yami take over for a bit so that he could taste it—as long as he didn't act too suspiciously in front of Tea.

And then, for the second time, Yami's ex-pal Bakura walked up to them on their way home. "Yami," Bakura said seriously. He had gotten better control of his host. "This is important."

Yami took over and turned back to Bakura. "What is it?" Yami said coldly. He did not want to lose Yugi's loyalty, and any friendship with Bakura was going to accomplish just that.

Bakura sneered at him. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you went and started being _friends _with this host of yours instead of doing what you're supposed to. It's just like you to give up your longest companion for someone so weak!"

"Yugi is not weak!" Yami yelled. He became aware that he had just given himself away. "Aside from my own father, Yugi is the best person I've ever met."

"Humans aren't people! They don't deserve the rights they have. And that's why we're taking it from them," Bakura said deviously. "It's all going to end soon. Just a bit more research and we'll be there. For the sake of our previous friendship, I want to warn you. The Karish are starting our takeover. We've found a way to destroy human consciousness! And one by one we will devour them all, so that we can finally claim this world to be completely our own."

"You're going to kill them!?" Yami exclaimed. "What has happened to you, Bakura? Why can't you hear your host? He's innocent!"

"None of them are innocent!" Bakura roared. "And if you don't join us, you'll follow in the footsteps of your father, rotting on the Shore because you're such an imbecile!"

Bakura turned and stormed off. Yami stared after him. He was going to exterminate the human race. He was going to exterminate _Yugi_. Yami couldn't let that happen… even if it meant turning against his own kind.


	6. We Need Proof

Yugi lay in bed, unable to sleep. He had enjoyed a pleasant dinner with Tea and helped her with her math, but his smiles and his laughter were only superficial. There was something far more important on his mind.

Bakura had said that the Karish were planning to end all human life, and they wouldn't let Yami stand in the way. Yugi couldn't let that happen. He had to maintain the balance of power between the two races. If only the humans had some weapon against the Karish… it would truly make them equal. And they need to find that weapon quickly.

Yami would be the only one who could help him, but what kind of conversation would that be? Yugi imagined it: "Hello, Yami. Could you tell me how to kill you or cripple you in some way?" He scoffed. Yami had expressed his loyalty to Yugi, but would he really endanger his own kind just for their unstable bond?

Yami had only told him one thing about Karish that could be useful in this situation—alcohol was deadly. But how was he supposed to get Karish all of Domino (that was where the takeover was to start, he assumed) to drink alcohol on their own at the same time? Eventually they'd find out what was poison and what was not. The only thing that Karish trusted was the water…

Yugi sat up. He couldn't… but it was only solution… it was impossible, wasn't it? There was no way he could pull something like that off. He'd be able to stop the invasion and save humankind. But it would take some serious influence or a great deal of money.

* * *

"Kaiba," Yugi said softly as they worked together in chemistry. Seto Kaiba was the adopted son of a multimillion dollar company president, Gozaburo Kaiba. He was easily the smartest and the richest person in the entire school, and could probably even buy the school if he wanted to. As an accomplished businessman, he also had a great deal of shares in the Domino Water Company.

Begrudgingly, Kaiba had been forced to become Yugi's lab partner. But Yugi was the only person who could possibly match Kaiba in intelligence, so they had grown to become friends. At least, friends in a cold and indifferent sort of way.

"What do you want, Yugi?" Kaiba replied, cheerful as ever.

Yugi cleared his thought and tried to figure out where to begin. "Say… that alcohol… was the only cure for a viral pandemic. However, you didn't want to start city-wide panic by announcing that pandemic to the populace." Yugi used big words—the better to relate with Kaiba on his own terms. "Would allowing alcohol into the water supply be acceptable under those conditions?"

Kaiba glared at Yugi. "Enough of this charade. What do you know?"

Yugi sighed. "Honestly?" Kaiba nodded. "A group of parasites is planning to take over humans one-by-one and destroy their consciousness until every one of us is dead. Alcohol is fatal to them."

Kaiba scoffed and turned back to his work. "Be realistic, Yugi. There hasn't been any documentation of these creatures you speak of."

"It's the same principle as an infection, Kaiba," Yugi argued. "We didn't know that the bacteria were present until we had the capabilities to see them."

"If any of this could possibly be true, then I'd say that your plan is… resourceful. But you have no proof of your claims, so I can't act on them. Give me something I can sink my teeth into," Kaiba said menacingly.

Yugi was incredibly downcast as he sat on his bed that evening. The only way of accomplishing what he needed to do… and he couldn't prove a single word of his story! Kaiba would be able to side-step the legal technicalities and dump the alcohol right into the water supply. But he needed _proof_.

"_Is something wrong, Yugi?" _Yami asked. He had been rather quiet and sequestered all day. He must have been thinking about their situation as well.

Yugi lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling. _"Yami… there has to be something we can do about what Bakura is planning."_

"_I don't know what to do, aibou. It would be nearly impossible to stop them, considering how many are going to be popping up on Domino's Shore," _Yami mused sadly. _"We'd have a bit of time. They'd want to get used to human bodies before they started their takeover. But after that…"_

"_Kaiba could help us, but he didn't believe me," _Yugi complained miserably. _"I was so stupid. As if he could just accept that there's a whole other species of intelligent life right off the coast."_

"_He didn't believe you?" _Yami asked. _"Did he want proof?"_

"_Yeah, exactly," _Yugi replied, depressed.

Yami hesitated for a bit. _"We… we do_ _have proof."_

Yugi sat straight up at that one. _"We have proof? Really?"_

"_Yes, we do…" _Yami didn't seem nearly as excited. What was wrong?

"_Well, what's the proof? You obviously see something that I don't."_

"_The proof… is me."_

Yugi understood now. He had a real, live Karish on his hands (or in his stomach, more accurately). He could shove this in Kaiba's face, and he wouldn't have any way of denying it. But that would mean…

"_Yami, we would have to separate!" _Yugi realized suddenly. _"Are you sure that you'd be able to do that?"_

"_I… I have to, Yugi. It would be for all the innocent human beings that are going to be hurt if I don't." _Yami seemed a bit reluctant, and Yugi could understand why. He would be completely out of his comfort zone.

Yugi bit his lip. This was dangerous, at best. _"I thought you said that that Karish couldn't survive out of a water source," _he said shakily.

"_I could still be in a water source. You could use those… what are their names…? Buckets." _Yami was being so brave by doing this. The real question would then be how Kaiba would react to this. Would he deny it ever happened? Would he call Yugi crazy? Or worse—would he take Yami and do experiments on him? Yugi would put any of those things beneath Kaiba. But Yugi could feel Yami's conviction. He couldn't be the one to let him down.

* * *

"Mr. Kaiba?" Kaiba's secretary said to the young CEO. "There's someone here to see you. He says that his name is Yugi Mutou, and asked me to tell you that he 'had proof'."

Kaiba perked up at the last sentence. "That's ridiculous. He couldn't possibly."

"Do you want me to let him in, sir?" the secretary asked uncertainly.

Kaiba decided to humor him. Whatever Yugi had cooked up was going to be far more interesting than the incomplete and erroneous reports of his subordinates. "Why not? Let's see what he's got."

A few minutes later, Yugi walked in, carrying what looked like a large, clear box of some sort. "Hello, Kaiba," Yugi said cheerfully, although his eyes gave him away. The boy was nervous.

"How can you have proof for a claim so absurd?" Kaiba asked, aggravated. "You better not waste my time with some cheap imitation. If this is a scam, it should be a good one."

Yugi stepped up to Kaiba's desk and placed the box on top of it. Kaiba peered inside it. "Yugi, don't be stupid. You brought me a fish," Kaiba said, unconvinced.

Yugi, with the utmost care, opened up the box so that Kaiba could have a better view. "There are two things that you'll find don't suit any normal fish. First of all, look at the tendrils on his back."

"His?" Kaiba asked disgustedly.

Yugi ignored him. "Second of all, he knows me." Yugi stuck his hand into the water, wincing as the saline solution bit into a small cut on his finger. "I asked him to swim around my finger three times just to prove my point to you." Just as Yugi said, this "parasite" swam exactly three times around his finger and then stopped, resting in a corner of the container.

"So you've trained it," Kaiba said dismissively. "That doesn't prove anything."

A look of dread came over Yugi's face. "I thought you were going to say something like that. Well, there's one thing you can't deny."

"And what's that?" asked Kaiba. He was beginning to get annoyed.

"This 'fish' is a parasite, right?" Yugi asked, grimacing as he leaned forward and looked into the box. "I really didn't want to do this…" he groaned, and then picked up the fish. Its tendrils wrapped around his hand.

Then, quick as a flash, the fish had maneuvered itself into Yugi's mouth and down his throat. Kaiba stood up at this one, and looked on in horror as Yugi stumbled, twitched, and then bent over. There was no way… Yugi could never have swallowed the entire fish like that, especially not when it was _alive_. Was what Yugi said really true?

"_I'm sorry about that, aibou," _Yami apologized quickly.

"_Forget about it,"_ Yugi said grimly. _"Just get out there and act convincing."_

Yami opened Yugi's eyes and looked at Kaiba face to face for the first time. "You must be Kaiba," he said, smiling.

"Don't play games with me, Yugi," Kaiba said. The poor human seemed a tad unsettled. "We've known each other for two years."

"I'm afraid I've never met you before, although I've heard Yugi talk about you," Yami said, shaking his head. "He tells me that you're rather the skeptic. Tell me: was the show to your liking?"

Kaiba sneered. "I don't know how you pulled it off, but that was just some cheap trick!"

"You really can't see what's right before your eyes, can you?" Yami said, grinning as the person across from him racked his brain for an explanation. "Your entire race is in danger, and you would rather play it safe by denying this ever happened. Businessmen take risks, as my host would have me to believe. Isn't that how you got this far?"

"You expect me to incorporate alcohol into the drinking water just because I feel like it? There could be serious repercussions!" Kaiba said angrily. "I may be rich, but even I can't do whatever I please."

"You disappoint me, Kaiba," Yami said coolly. "I was given the impression that you were more intelligent than this. Only a small amount of alcohol need be added—not enough to affect a human or even a human child. You can't lose. Do this for us and no harm will result of it."

Kaiba made lightning-speed calculations in his head. "Not enough alcohol to affect a human child?" he asked finally. "I will do that and only that. But if whatever you're planning fails, remember that I was never a part of this. It will be done by tomorrow afternoon and last until Saturday."

It was Wednesday at the time. "That's fine by me."


	7. The Good Guys Always Win

"_I told you it would work, Yugi,"_ Yami chided. _"And besides, we would have had to re-bond eventually."_

Yugi still hated the fact that he had to be infected—again. It was a very unpleasant feeling, especially when he did his best to remain conscious. _"Next time you leave my body, you're not coming back in."_

Yami chuckled lightly, although he was a little disappointed. Being able to stretch his fins was a wonderful, if brief, experience. He didn't mind sharing a body with a human, but it was a shame that he wouldn't be able to swim again for a long, long time.

"_Wait, Yugi, this thing with the water supply is going to last all the way until Saturday, and I won't be able to drink anything. How are we supposed to manage without water?" _Yami asked, suddenly feeling frantic as he realized.

"_Don't worry. We humans have something called 'bottled water'. The alcohol will only affect the water from the tap." _Yugi explained.

Yami was a bit confused. _"Tap? Is that like the style of human dance Tea mentioned a few wanes ago?"_

"_No, silly," _Yugi said, laughing. Apparently the tides were the only way of measuring time in the Karish world. The "waxes" and "wanes" were the only way of telling time. Yami hadn't completely gotten used to the idea of the sun and the moon and how they related to days and months. _"The tap is that metal thing in the kitchen that the water comes out of."_

"_So there are other ways to get water…" _Yami mused. _"I wish there was some way to know if our plan worked."_

"_The only way to do that would be to be there with another Karish as they were drinking the poisoned water…"_

Yami thought for a moment. _"Yugi, do you know where your friend Ryou used to live?"_

"_Down on Main Street. Why?"_

"_Because there's an old friend of mine I want to see."_

The next day, Yami knocked on Ryou's door, hoping that Bakura would be there. They had gotten a phone call that the first dose of alcohol had been mixed with the water and that it was fully operational. Now all he had to do would be to watch as Bakura unknowingly drank poison.

The white-haired human shell opened the door. Since their last encounter Bakura had learned to open the door when a person knocked on it. One friend of Ryou's had knocked for ten minutes until Bakura finally opened up and cut her heart out.

"Yami," Bakura greeted coldly. "What are you doing here?"

Yami tried to appear contrite. "I have been thinking a lot about my life… and what you're planning to do with the humans. My entire existence has been to protect the creatures that tried to kill us and would do so again." Yami looked up at Bakura, a false fire burning in his eyes. "I've been wrong all this time, and I came to ask of you your forgiveness. I made a terrible mistake."

Bakura examined him. "So you would join us in our quest?"

"I would," Yami said convincingly. "Indeed, the pleading of the human began to irritate me. I could barely sleep with all that racket. So I consumed his consciousness with my own. He was no match for my power."

Bakura grinned widely. "Yami, my friend! You have joined us once again! Come in, and let's have a drink to celebrate!"

Good, this is exactly what Yami wanted. Bakura got some glasses and filled them with water straight from the tap. Yami took his glass and felt a sting of sadness as Bakura downed his without a second thought. He had known this Karish. They had once called themselves family, and now he had gone to incredible trouble to end old friend's life. It was a stinging betrayal.

Yami took a small sip of his, just to avoid seeming suspicious. Bakura leaned back in his chair. "It is good to have you on my side, Yami," Bakura said softly. "I always thought that we would conquer the humans together, even when we were just yearlings. I miss—"

Yami never got to find out what Bakura missed, as he reeled over suddenly and clutched his stomach. "You…" Bakura spat. "Traitor! You did this to me!" Ryou's body choked up a dark scaled fish, no longer able to maintain his connection now that he was so ill.

Yami grabbed Bakura quickly and put him into a plastic container on Ryou's shelf. He filled it with the bottle of water he had brought along. Yami couldn't help it - it was mercy. Bakura could do no more harm. The portions of his tendrils that allowed him to take control of human nervous systems were completely rotted by the alcohol. He didn't deserve to die like this, even if he had incited thoughts of genocide. He was the product of all the propaganda that was fed to him throughout his life.

Ryou, the real Ryou, stood up shakily and looked between Yami and the fish in the box. "Hello, Yugi. What… exactly are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"_Maybe you should take over, aibou," _Yami said quickly. _"What is Ryou going to think when he finds out what I am?"_

Yugi switch places with Yami and placed a comforting hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ryou, everything's going to be alright now."

"That creature… I heard it say terrible things to me. I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything," Ryou stammered. "How did you know how to stop it?"

"I… have a friend who knows about these things," Yugi explained.

Ryou's hands were shaking and his eyes darted from left to right. He looked like a rat in a cage, and that's what he must have felt like after being trapped inside his own mind for a week. "Is it… is it going to come back?" Ryou asked fearfully, staring at the dull gray Karish who had collapsed on the bottom of the container.

"No, he can't," Yugi said soothingly. "You don't have to worry about that ever again, okay?"

Ryou nodded, his eyes watered. "My family… it killed my family…" he said, and tears ran down his cheeks. "It-it killed my family with m-my own hands…"

Yugi hugged Ryou, and Ryou cried heavily. "I'm sorry, Ryou… I'm so sorry."

"_Yami, what are we going to do with him? Bakura, I mean," _Yugi asked.

"_He's no longer a danger to humans directly, but his idea to consume the minds of humans one-by-one must not be allowed to spread. I spared his life, but it was at a cost. He can never return to the Sea."_

"_Where can he go? I don't think Grandpa's going to let me fly all the way to the Atlantic coast just to drop off a fish."_

"_I'm not a fish," _Yami complained.

"_You look like a fish, you swim like a fish, and I know for a fact that you _smell _like a fish. I think that makes you a fish." _Yugi joked.

"_Maybe Kaiba would like him," _Yami offered. _"As a pet, of course."_

This idea seemed good enough to Yugi. Ryou seemed to have calmed down a bit. "Yugi, I don't have anywhere to go. My father is in Egypt and my mother and sister…"

"Why don't you stay with us?" Yugi offered before he even thought about it. "I'm sure I'll be able to convince Grandpa to let you."

"Really, Yugi?" Ryou asked hopefully. "T-thanks… It will only be until my father comes back a few weeks from now. Maybe he'll let me come with him on another expedition."

Ryou packed some of his things and high-tailed it out of his house, which only held evil memories for him now. Ryou knew the way to Yugi's house, so Yugi made a quick detour and dropped Bakura off at KaibaCorp's Research and Development facility. One scientist was particularly interested, and Bakura had a long life of poking and prodding ahead of him in exchange for his hatred.

"_I think we make a good team, don't you?" _Yugi said as he walked home from KaibaCorp.

"_Indeed. I had dreamed since childhood of meeting a human face-to-face, learning about their culture and their ways of doing things. But I didn't know how I was going to be able to do it without hurting anyone. When I met you, I got a wonderful opportunity. I got to be partners with you."_

"_We've only know each other for about a week, but you seem like an okay guy. I wouldn't mind having you around. Twenty-five years seems like a long time, but I think we'll manage alright."_

"_As do I, aibou. And until death takes me, you will have my fidelity."_

"_I know, Yami. You've already shown me."_


	8. Epilogue: Grief

Hello! This is the final chapter (thus the epilogue), so, as per usual, I would like to give my thanks to everyone.

Thanks to A.YamiYugi, sajsama, dragonlady222, Shamise, Serzie, Pharaohyamifan, susan bare, and Mystik Genie for reviewing!

Thanks to Animefang Girl, Pharaohyamifan, o-x-becca-x-o, and susan bare for favoriting!!!

Thanks to Animefang Girl, Animefreak99-06, G'ma Jloran, Greek Paradox, Shamise, Trikki, dontmesswithYami (nice name), esama, not the usual baka, and pequena for putting Mutual Recompence on Story Alert!!!

And thanks to everyone who has contributed to the 610 hits for the first chapter.

* * *

Yugi brought Ryou some pillows and blankets. "Well, it's not the master suite, but it will have to do," he said as he tossed the objects to the white-haired boy sitting on the couch. "I hope you don't mind; we don't exactly have a guest room."

"No, really, this is fine," Ryou said quietly. "It's more than I could ever expect. Thank you."

"Listen, Ryou," Yugi began, "there's something that I need to tell you if you're going to be staying with us."

Ryou nodded. "What is it?"

"Bakura… the creature that infected you… there are more of them." Ryou looked horrified. "But," Yugi continued, "they won't hurt you if you don't go down to the beach." Ryou sighed, relieved. "That's not all, though."

"What could be worse?" Ryou asked, chuckling softly. "I was just taken over…"

Yugi hesitated for a moment. "One of those creatures—the Karish—lives in my body too."

Ryou stood up and backed away from Yugi, as if afraid that he was going to suddenly turn evil and try to kill him. "You've just been deceiving me all along! Why are you doing this?"

Yugi raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Ryou, calm down. He doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"_You decided to tell him?" _Yami asked curiously.

"_After what happened to him, I thought that I should tell him the whole truth," _Yugi explained sheepishly. _"Besides, it's kind of hard keeping this secret from anyone. Being able to talk about it… it would be nice."_

"He… he's not like Bakura was? How?" Ryou demanded.

"Yami was raised differently than the others of his kind. He's helped me, and I decided to help him. Ryou, if it weren't for him then Bakura would have killed you." Yugi suddenly got an idea. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"What?" Ryou asked.

"_What?" _Yami asked as well.

"I can prove to you that he's not evil. We're friends, and I want to show you why," Yugi said truthfully.

Slowly, Ryou nodded, and Yami and Yugi switched places. "Hello, Ryou," Yami said, glancing around uncomfortably.

"Hi," Ryou replied, just as shy. "Um… you're Yami?"

"Yes," Yami said. "Ryou, I would like to apologize on behalf of Bakura, and on behalf of my entire race. What they did to you was unacceptable."

"Thanks…" said Ryou. They sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. "So… how long have you known Yugi?" Ryou asked finally.

"Just about a week, but he has done me innumerable services. I owe him my loyalty and gratitude, and I have done my best to express it."

Ryou laughed. Yami peered at him. "No, I'm sorry, but… I was wondering if it was just Yugi pretending to be someone else to make me feel better. But he would never use words like 'innumerable services.'"

"Yugi would never lie to you," Yami stated. "The only reason he decided to tell you this is because he believes in total honesty, especially in these circumstances."

"Yugi and I haven't gotten together as much lately," Ryou said sadly. "It's my fault. I didn't want him to feel lonely or anything, but with my family…" Ryou sobbed softly. Yami recognized it as an expression of deep sorrow. "I guess I don't need to worry about that much anymore, do I?"

Yami, listening to Yugi's coaching, put a reassuring hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Fear not, Ryou. Everything's going to be fine."

"How can you say that?" Ryou choked. "My family is gone, and it's my fault! If I hadn't gone to the beach that afternoon, then Bakura…" Ryou trailed off, unable to contain his sadness.

"_This is more your department, aibou," _Yami said. _"I don't know much about dealing with human grief… or grief at all, actually."_

Yugi took over and held Ryou's hand in his. "I know what it's like to lose the people you care about. My parents died when I was seven in a plane crash, which is when I went to live with my grandpa. I felt like if I had convinced them to stay home or even go by car… I could have stopped their death. But it never works that way, Ryou. It was my parents' time, and it was your sister and mother's time, too, no matter how unfair it looks."

Ryou brushed a few tears from his cheeks. "Thank you, Yugi. I… I forgot. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Let's get you ready for bed, and try to get a good night's sleep. I'll make BMW pancakes tomorrow." BMW pancakes—banana, maple, and walnut. It was another dish taught to Yugi by his mother.

"I really owe you one, Yugi," Ryou said as he lay down to go to sleep. "One day, I'll give you the recompense you rightly deserve."


End file.
